This is your year to become freer, happier, more motivated, and more connected to your heart, dreams and passions. Might I suggest rock climbing as the vehicle to get there. Where are we going? I believe we are going for the best version of ourselves, to be happy, to be content, yet hungry for more.

Rock climbers have a disease I like to say... It's called GSD - “Get Shit Done". Once you start rock climbing, you find yourself wanting more of it. It changes you. Here's how I would describe that process in 5 steps. For best results, be consistent for 6 months.

1. Embrace the Suck. The first 2 weeks will be challenging. You will be using muscles that you never knew existed. The skin on your fingers will hurt. Your pride will need crutches because you're not as awesome as you thought. Rest easy and remember... this too shall pass.

2. Challenge Yourself. If your not falling, then you are not challenging yourself. Embrace vulnerability. This place of vulnerability (aka failing) creates strength. For example, a body builder knows that it takes resistance to build muscle. This could be the one sport where falling down is encouraged. The best athletes in the world get this, which is why they are the best. They grow to love the uncomfortable.

3. You're Not Alone. Rock climbing is a community sport. Everyone is a beginner at some point. When we realize that we all have this in common, there is greater freedom to be present. The rock climbing culture is very welcoming, encouraging and positive. Which is why the sport has exploded in the last 5 years.

4. Show Up. We celebrate effort not performance. Effort looks like showing up. There will be good days, there will be bad days, and there will be average days. The bad days and the average days are victories when you show up. This might be a new mindset for some people. When you show up, you win- regardless of the results.

5. Oh the Place You Will Go. Dr. Suess is right. Rock climbing takes you to beautiful places. Think about our local surroundings- Castle Crags, Mount Shasta, Lassen National Park, Humboldt County and the Trinity Alps. We are surrounded by beauty. Not to mention even bigger areas within a day's drive like Lake Tahoe, Yosemite National Park or Smith Rock, Oregon. One could spend a lifetime exploring California, not to mention the world.

“Making a decision was only the beginning of things. When someone makes a decision, he is really diving into a strong current that will carry him to places he had never dreamed of when he first made the decision.” - Paulo Coelho